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R e a d i n oom With its new master plan, the has outlined an ambitious future. But is the city willing to pay for it?

BY M I T C H E L L J. S H I E L D S Cite 5 1 2 0 0 1 s u m m e i 21

So whar was the solution? The experts tecture. Designed by S.I. Morris Asso- began with an apparently obvious answer: ciates, it has been praised for its striking Add t un floors to the building, increasing prismatic design. Even it it had been its size by 70,000 square feet. But it was outgrow n as a central library, the argu quickly discovered that wouldn't work. menl went, the Jones Building still The Jones Building had not been designed retained value tor other purposes. for vertical expansion, and to reinforce its And that left only one option — a structure to support two additional floors brand new central library building in a would be prohibitively expensive. new location, a building that could be So then thoughts moved to expand- constructed not only to meet current ing the budding horizontally, letting it needs, but also with expansion in mind, grow out into the plaza between it and a building that could be designed to re- the . But that, too, spond to rhe demands of a new century. proved problematic. Some were con- At the end of the five day gathering, as cerned about losing the public space that they packed up their pads and pens, the the pla/.a represented, but more practi- library officials, architects, and experts cally, the plaza covers two below-grade knew that starting fresh was the best levels of the library that house the Chil- way to give Houston the sort of central dren's Room, technical Services, and library it needed. The only question public parking. Building on the plaza was, would the city agree? would entail tearing through those struc- tures to create a new foundation. Again, the expense would be immense, and the It has been nearly two wars since the space gained only some 45,00(1 square meeting to debate the fate of the Jones feet, barely half of what was needed. Building was held, and in that time the Another alternative was to build a administrators of the Houston Public 15,000 square tool "book box" that Library have talked little about the need would he attached to the Lamar Street for a new central library building. It's not side of the Ideson Building. Then the that there's been any attempt to keep the books being stored on the Jones' Build- discussion secret; to the contrary, library ing's fifth floor could be moved there, officials are happy to list all the advan- and that floor opened up tor public use. tages a new central library would bring. But again, the cost measured .ig.imsi Bur the public hasn't exactly been clam- what would be gained made the idea oring for that information. Instead, ttie less than appealing. And when the nega- public has seemed much more interested tive impact such a book box would in the future of its local branches. have on the Ideson Building, which A discussion of that future, along would lose much of its surrounding with the call for a new central library, green space and be blocked from public was part of Library 2010, a master plan view on its south side, was factored in, for the Houston library system that was it was clear this was not a solution any- released in its initial form in early 2000, one would care to live with. and has since slowly wended its way Was there any other space to expand through presentations to local officials horizontally? Unfortunately, no. The and the public review process. The pri- Jones Building was hemmed in on all mary purpose of the master plan was to The Jesse H. Jones Building, designed by S.I. Morris Associates ond opened hi 1976, has served as the Houston Pubrk Library's tentrai sides h\ Sam I li IIIMOII I'll k, I in 11,1. address what had been a long period of branch (or a quarter of a century. But it may no longer be up la the job. and privately owned commercial prop- neglect. As the plan notes, though the erty. So why not simply tear the Jones library system prospered in rhe 1970s, Building down and start all over again in the t^SOs it suffered severe budget on the same site? The difficulty with reductions, so much so tliat tor close to THE TASK SEEMED STRAIGHTFORWARD enough: Opened in 1976, the Jones Building that idea was that it would require that rwo decades the system was in what was determine a way that the Jesse H. Jones had simply not kept pace with the com- the central library be relocated to a tem- essentially a holding pattern. By the Building, the central core of the Houston munity around it. Too, it had the bad porary site for three to five years while time the master plan was developed, the Public Library System, could continue luck of being built just prior to the construction was underway. At the same library system was viewed as both over- to serve the city for a few more decades. computer and technology boom of the time, to meet city parking requirements, burdened and underequipped. \\ hen So in nnd-1999, a group of library offi- 1980s and 1990s. Not only was there the replacement library would have to compared against library systems in cials, architects, and library consultants nor enough room for the number of have at least four levels of below- other major cities, it fared poorly. Where met in the 25-year-old Jones Building to people who wanted to use the library, ground parking, an expensive proposi- the national average tor rhe total size of consider their options, l o r five intense there also wasn't enough room for the tion. And then there was the problem of neighborhood branch libraries was .24 days they debated a scries <>l possibili- wiring and other services needed to lt>-.mg thi |imes Building, which despite gross square feet per capita (CiShVcapita), ties, all designed to solve the same prob- accommodate computer terminals and its varous problems is considered by in Houston it was .IK (iSF/capita. The lem — space. allow for easy access to the internet. many a handsome work of civic archi- national average tor central library com- conthnted mi page 14 ¥ s i

continued from page 21 library — opened in November 1925. W, A. Dowdy food franchises. Bui, he says, the people running the plexes was .30 GSF/capita; in I louston, they wanted attention paid to their designed the branch in a style derived from Monlicello, library "wanted distinctive buildings that could become it was .20 GSF/capita. Rating resources, neighborhood branch first. That's one using red brick and featuring a while neoclassical portico. focal points for their communities.'' When Henington hired funding, staffing, and facilities, the Hou- of the challenges with a central library The building was demolished in 1982 when the current Len Radoff as his chief of branches in 1971, a well-bal- ston Public Library System ranked in the — it's everybody's library, but it's Carnegie Branch opened. anced team for encouraging inventive designs, while still lower fourth of public library systems nobody's library at the same time. It The Heights Branch opened in March 1926 and has ensuring functional librnries, was farmed. serving cities of similar size. could be that, five years from now, as survived to the present day wilh a thoughtful renovalio*v£y k The Vinson Branch in 1969 was one of the first to Obviously, more was needed than more and more people move downtown, and expansion by Ray Bailey Architects in 1979, The origi- be huill under Henington's direction, and it clearly pre- just a new central library. "We wanted that will change. Within five years we nal Heights Branch was designed by J .to Glover, who cre- sented a different approach to branch design for the city. to determine what the services should anticipate 40,000 people living within ated o building constructed of hollow tile and stucco with Designed by Clovis Heimsolh, ihe Vinson Branch features a be, the staffing, the resources," Barbara two miles of the central library, and cast stone Italian Renaissance detoils. The arched entrance curving slreel facade wilh serpentine windows ond dramal Ciubbin, director of the Houston Public when that happens, attitudes may be clearly indicotes Ihe significance of the building's purpose, ic spatial progression through a low entrance to a high library System, says of the research chat different. But for now, we've been told and the generous proportions af the interior spaces are in central space lit by clerestory windows. Natural light pours ted to Library 2010. "And what became to pay attention to the neighborhood branches first, and then come talk about keeping wilh Ihe scale of the entrance. However, the build- into the interior from a number of different levels and very obvious was that once you look at the central library." ing remains welcoming, perhaps because of a recessed directions. Unfortunately, ihe exterior did not wear well, services, you realize the services are door within the projecting entrance that presents an open and problems wilh leaking skylights led the library to limit delivered from buildings. So a big part archway to the public. their use in future branches, Still, the Vinson Branch made of the question became, what should the When Pork Place was incorporated into Houston in an impact; when it opened, the greeted buildings look like? And how many Over the years, Houston has had three 1928, the assumed responsibility its arrival with o story headlined, "A Library Doesn't Hove should there be?" central libraries. The first, built with a for its brooch library, which was then in a rented building. To Be Stodgy." The master plan's answer was thai the gift ol 550,000 obtained from Andrew Money for new construction was hard to obtain during the Other highlights af the Henington years included the city needed to build three new neighbor- Carnegie, was erected in 1904 on Mam Depression, but representatives of community organiza Jungman, Acres Homes, Carnegie, and Freed-Montrose hood branches and replace 14 existing Street, (..'ailed the Houston Lyceum and lions seeking to build a more permanent home for the branches. In the Jungman Branch, 1975, architects W. branches with new facilities, all ranging Carnegie Library, the building, as de- branch successfully applied for a Federal Public Works Irving Phillips Jr. and Robert W. Peterson created a visually in size from 22,000 gross square feet to scribed in Lyceum to Landmark: The Administration grant in 1938 that was matched by contri- arresting exterior to stand out in ihe branch's busy iO.IHKI gross square ft et. I our existing Julia Ideson Building of the Houston butions from individuals, the City of Houston, and the Westheimer setting. Architects Haywood, Jordan, McCowon branches were recommended for renova- Public Library was a "miniature temple Houston Public Library. Designed by Houston architects Inc. designed a particularly strong interior for the Acres tion. It was further suggested that to decked with neoclassical porticoes and a Ainsworth and Irvine, the new branch represented the Homes Branch, 1976, where open timbers of light-colored strengthen the library system's regional central dome." It soon proved too small restrained simplicity ol much Hew Deal architecture. wood support ihe high roof. A cooperative arrangement structure, five regional libraries of for a growing city, however, and in 1926 was replaced by the Julia Ideson Building. However, as in the Heights Branch, a projecting arched with the Houston Independent School District and Houston 32,000 to 65,000 gross square feet be designed by Cram & kcrguson, William entranceway communicated both the significance of the Community College enabled the library to make the new established, eithei In expanding or simpt) Ward Warkin, and Louis A. Glover. In an building's purpose and an invitation lo the public to enter. Carnegie Broach, 1982, an unusually large building. Ray replacing the existing regional libraries. echo of what would be decided nearly 75 One final pre-World War II branch opened i n Bailey Architects designed angled glass walls to face the The result would be more than a dou- years later during the gathering at the February 1941 on Washington Avenue at Roy Street. two schools served by the branch; the side lacing a com- bling of the si/e of the neighborhood mercial area was given a brightly colored stucco entrance Jones Building, the Ideson Building was Homed the Branch, it was an early example of branches, at a cost of nearly $154 mil- wall. Ray Bailey Architects also designed the adaptive ren- not built as an extension of, or an on-site adaptive reuse. Louis A. Glover designed the renovation of lion. Added to that was the proposed ovation of Ihe 1941 William Ward Walkin Cenlrol Church replacement tor, the then existing central a one-story structure that had been the Woter Works m:w central library, a 400,000 gross of Christ into the Freed-Monlrose Branch, 1988. Stained library. Expansion of the Houston I >- Building for Camp Logan during World Wot I. square feet structure (the Jones Building, glass in the west rose window graces the upstairs reading ccum and Carnegie Library was pre- When construction of new branches become feasible in contrast, is 244,000 gross square feet) room wilh its colors, but clear glass in the other windows vented by a nearby church and escalating again after World War II, the library began by planning or i liai would >.'>M in ill;- neighborhood • >\ and in the original openings for the wesi doors provide land values along Main, and so the Ide- updating branches in well-established neighborhoods that SI.17 million. views of the library's collections and users to those outside, son Building was located instead on demonstraled strong interest ond support. Central Park It was, Ciubbin admits, an ambitious visually confirming the building's new identity. McKinney Avenue, then a relatively unde- Branch on 69th Street ol Canal opened in 1950, the plan. Hut it was also one that, as the mas- veloped parr of downtown. The Ideson Heights Branch was enlarged in 1951, ond the Park Place The Johnson Broach, 1996, is one of Ihe most inter- ter plan was presented at public meetings Building served as the city's central Branch was enlarged in 1953. Also in 1953, then-library esting buill under the leadership of current library director in early 2001, generated considerable library for 50 years, before being sup- director Harriet Dickson Reynolds, along with the city plan- Barbara Gubbin, who succeeded David Henington in 1994, support. "We found that people were planted in 1976 by the Jones Building. ning department, produced a study discussing the library The building manages lo look both monumental and invit- very, very committed to their neighbor- system's growth. Planning documents and studies contin- ing. Ferro-Saylors Inc. designed a large-scale building in hood branches," says Ciubbin. "We had Ili.ii tin.- |oncs Building should have ued to be produced over the years os the librory grappled which exterior color is a major design element. A green recommended that some branches he outlived lis usefulness in barely hall the wilh the issues involved in providing service lo a constantly metal roof crowns walls of standard buff bricks interrupted closed and consolidated, and there was a time of its predecessor is less a testimony growing city. Politics, as well os the studies, contributed to by square ceramic tiles of red and orange. The colored tiles lot of objection to that. But when we to any problems with its design — the decisions about where and when branches would be animate the facade and highlight the building's windows asked if people would be willing to pay though some who have worked there built. Four branches were built in the 1950s, 11 in the and corners. The high, vaulted space of the entrance con- more for larger branches and better ser- complain that by having the service core 1960s, nine in the 1980s, and four in the 1990s. tinues through the length of the building to the far wall, vice at their branches, they almost always rise through the middle, effectively break- Several interesting branches date from the period where artist John Biggers spectacular mural 'The Birth of said yes." ing each floor into four separate wings, when David Henington, who was library director from the Seo" is dramatically placed. When it came to rhe central library, the flow of both patrons and staff has been made problematic — than it is to 1967 to 1994, heoded the library system. It was a lime af Since the library under Barbara Gubbin's leadership though, it was a different story. "We the explosive growth ol 1 louston since significant growth, with 25 new branches and branch addi- has not succumbed lo ihe cookie-cutter approach lo very clearly got the message that some the mid-'7(k, as well as the dramatic tions built. Henington demonstraled a particular inleresi in branch design, there is hope that os ihe system conlinues people thought that not much needed to changes in recent years concerning what working wilh architects lo obtain good designs He remem- lo expand, it can do so in buildings thai will visually be done downtown," Gubbin notes. libraries are expected to be. bers having lo answer city officials who felt that all new please their users and contribute lo ihe appearance of "And even among those who felt the branches should be designed alike, as if they were fast- their neighborhoods. • downtown central library needed work. "People don't view libraries the way fire 5 I : 11 II i summer 25

Rem Koolhoai' design (or a central library in Searlle has Though no decision has been yet mode on when — ot, lot irroird o stir in libraiy (ink's, and oilers suggestions loi that maltet, il — a new central libtaty might replace the new ways la look at what a library should be. Jesse H. lone; building, it's still not too early to begin think- ing nbaut where such a library might best he placed. Same might otgue fot a location neoi the curtent site, close to, ii no longer quite in the hemt of, the civic centet downtown. But as Jane Jacobs has noted, lumping civic institutions togelbet in mock-imperial arrays undermines then potential to enliven multiple pnrts ol the city. Better, she advised, to station these components independently, like "vitol chess- men." at judiciously chosen sites. In The Death and Life of&eot American Cities, Jocobs they once did," says Gubbin. "Yes, where we could partner with a theater points to the New York Public library — oiiginolly deposited there are those who still see libraries as group, letting them use it lor perfor- as a stand-alone civic ornament ot Fifth Avenue and 41 st book depositories, as simply quiet mances while we use it for lectures and Street — ns nn exemplar af hei ideal of "the mingled city." places to sit and read, but there are other public gatherings? Or for that mat- Such a mingling is possible in Houston as well, lust as others who see a library as much more ter, why not a copy shop instead of scat- Houston's civic center spun off the business of its sile-bound of a community center, a media center, tered copy machines? The library, we've Albert Thomas convention latility in lavor ol the Geoige R. and who aren't into being shushed. So come to realize, is a public space with a Brown Hall an the east side ol downtown, perhaps the main we have to figure out how to deal with variety of public uses, and to attract peo- branch ol ihe Houston Public Libraiy might be relocoted to both types, to provide a place for quiet ple we have to determine the best way to similni advontage. In replacing the current central libioiy, the study, but to have places for more accommodate those uses." city could do worse than to shop for on oddress on Main robust activities as well." But that, of course, presupposes Stieet somewhere between downtown and the museum dis- The last decade has seen a number that a new central library will be built, tiict. As it happens, Ihe city alieody owns two blocks on the of cities replace their aging central li- something Gubbin acknowledges is very west side of Main just north ol Hoimon; Hie library's collec- braries. Chicago recently opened a new far from certain. Indeed, in the latest tions might well find o hospitable venue there, near the main central library, as have Denver and bond issue proposed to be placed before bianch ol Houston Community College, capitalizing on not Phoenix. Nashville will unveil a new the public in November as part of a jus) the land the city currently owns, but also the availability central facility later this year, while five-year capital improvement plan, the of several more uadeveloped blocks aearby (to grow on). Minneapolis has passed a bond issue library system is allocated only $56 mil- Aside from Metro's recently begun light tail line, which is to for a library and discussion is under- lion — enough tor some continued ren- include a Holman Street station, the site is easily accessible way about building something new in ovation of branch libraries, perhaps, fiom the freeway system via Spur 527 aad Travis Slreet. Kansas City. but hardly enough for any substantial The developmeal of a public library in collateral support In many cases, the new libraries have new construction. Main Chance of nearby educational activities has a precedent jus! north o l simply been bigger versions of their pre- If a new central library is to be downtown, whete the library's Carnegie Biaach is used nol decessors, with the printed word domi- built, it may well require a special bond only as the neighborhood branch lor nating. But some communities are wrestl- issue, and to build public support for the Near North Side, but also os the ing with the evolving notion of what a such an initiative rhe first wave of A l i b r a r y c a n h e l p m o r e t h a n j u s t m i n d s to g r o w pr;mary nbrorv for Davis High library should be. One of the most not- improvements would likely haw to be School aad Marshall Middle School. able is Seattle, whose new central li- out in the neighborhoods, not down- A aew central library on Main Stteet at Hoimon would lelale B Y D R E X E L T U R N E R brary is being designed by Rem Kool- town. But eventually, Gubbin hopes, not only to HCC's Main Street academic building, but to the haas. ( (imposed of five discrete volumes people will realize that a library system other buildings ol the HCC central campus, clustered seveiol perched one on top of another, Koolhaas' can't survive without something strong blocks east in Ihe some latitude of Midtown, os well. Apart library contains a square spiral of books at its core, and that something is no from its prospective town-gown synergy, a ceatrol libraiy ot that creates a continuous flow that starts longer the Jesse H. Jones Building. Main and Holman would also advance the efforts ol the Main at the beginning ot the Dewey Decimal Though plans are being developed to Street Coalition to restore Moin Streel lo its once prime posi- system and continues uninterrupted to renovate the Jones Building's interior — tion in the life of Ihe city. the system's end. Bur more crucially, a renovation that would not only deal For the library lo reach its full potential, however, o con- Koolhaas has envisioned his library as with problems that have de\ eloped dur- genial location is not enough. The architecture needs to be a something mote than a repository of rhe ing years of deferred maintenance, but persuasive advertisement lor what lies within, hospitable to the written word. A modern library, Kool- also radically reshape the way services library's surroundings and indicative ol its importance to ihe haas insists, "must transform itself into are provided by making the first floor cultural life of the community. The building should also accom- an information storehouse aggressively into the equivalent of a neighborhood modate a taage ol activities conducive to institutional vitality orchestrating the coexistence of all avail- branch for downtown — that is at best, ond the enjoyment of its pahons, blending some of the ele- able technologies." Gubbin notes, a stopgap measure. ments of an othenaeum — lecture hols, dining and club In theory, at least, Houston library "It's possible for the library to go on rooms — with the customary features ol o public library. director Gubbin tends to agree with uloing the piecemeal renovation it has To maximize the potential of a Main Street site, a new Koolhaas. Any new central library that been doing," Gubbin says, "but I don't Houston central library might provide lot shops and cafes at might be built in Houston, she says, not think the city deserves that. Because once ground level, as does Gunnor Asplund's Stockholm Public only has to be able to cope with a vari- it's done, even after we've spent a lot ot Ubiory. It could build partnerships with, and provide generous ety of media, from books to videotapes money, we'll still have inadequate facili- accommodations for, organizations such as Wiiters in the to CDs and DVDs and whatever else ties. What I've heard in the meetings Schools, Inprint, and Nuestio Palabio. might follow, it must also be flexible we've held is that people don't want that. Viacent Scully has observed without exaggeration thot "o enough to accommodate both existing They want something revolutionary." fiee public library... is by fai the most Important monument a and emerging computer technology. Revolutions, though, don't always city can build to itself ond its people." As such, the new central Equally important, it has to balance come easily, and they rarely come cheap- libiary should be accorded the same level of architectural lalenl between being a research facility and a ly. So in the end the question remains, eagaged foi the city's museums, which since the mid-1980s public amenity. how much docs the city think its library have included buildings by three Pritzkei Prize winneis — "Inevitably, the Starbucks issue system is worth? And how much arc Rafael Moneo, Renzo Piano, aad Robert Venturi, Ihe last ol comes up," says Gubbin. "We are actu- they willing to pay for it? • whom lomously pronounced the American "Main Street almost ally saying, radical thought, why not let all right" as a setting lor public life. The right library in Ihe people drink coffee in the stacks? Why tight place could go a long way toward making Houston's not have a coffee shop, or a cafe, in the Main Street moie than all right. • library? Win nut a large auditorium